Great Lakes League..Two Licking County Outfielders & Two League Leading Pitchers

In the Great Lakes Summer League there are two hitters going back and forth for the leagues leading batting average. Both are members of the Licking County Settlers, a team that’s currently tied for 4th place with the Cincinnati Steam and have a record of 5-3. The freshman Dan Golbransen, a leftfielder mostly hitting in the 3rd spot of the lineup was the leagues leader after 26 at bats with an average of .462. His collegiate story began this past spring at the University of Jacksonville. He led the team with a batting average of .391; and led the team in both runs scored (53), and hits (79). One of the most important pair of statistics that Golbransen posted was that he led his team in walks (39), and he had the fewest strikeouts as well (23). His patience, pitch recognition, and discipline are molding him into an exceptional hitter. In his last game against the Lake Erie Monarchs, Golbransen fell from the top as he went 0 for 3. The deception of that is that he did walk twice and scored twice and is now hitting .414. That same game saw the rise of a teammate named John McCambridge.

The junior outfielder has been hitting the ball well, and on the night that Golbransen failed to get a hit, McCambridge went 2 for 5 and is now in second place in the league behind Southern Ohio Copperheads Ryan Jones. McCambridge is now batting .484 after 31 at bats and has 4 stolen bases. His speed makes him an ideal 2nd slot hitter and is trying to carve out some improvements that could make him more of a force at Xavier University. This past spring, McCambridge played in all 58 games at Xavier, and hit .307, hit 6 homeruns, and stole 25 bases. He only walked 18 times and posted a tender .380 on base percentage because of it. He struck out 36 times (2 nd highest on the team), so if this summer he can switch those numbers around, he will improve vastly.

The Great Lakes League is seeing some quality pitching coming from an All-Ivy League 1st Team Starting Pitcher, and a Wabash Valley Junior College pitcher who transferred to Kentucky this past spring as the 13th best Junior College recruit in the nation. The sophomore Brent Suter is a 6’4 195lb left hander that’s currently pitching with the Hamilton Joes. The Joes are in 3rd place with 7 wins, and 2 of those victories have come off the arm of Suter. His record is now 2-0 after 13 innings, his ERA is a low 1.38 and he’s punched out 13 batters while keeping them to a .143 batting average. A sturdy depiction of a pitcher, Suter spent this past spring as a Harvard Crimson and led the team with 2 complete games, a save, and a team leading 47 strikeouts. Some would like to say that not many Ivy Leaguers get to the pros, but Harvard’s former pitcher Frank Herrmann is becoming the most recent example to the contrary. He’s one of the Cleveland Indians strongest relievers since being called up from Columbus early in June for his major league debut against the White Sox.

Another pitcher in the Great Lakes League with almost identical numbers as Suter is Joe Devine. The 6’2 right hander pitches for the Lexington Hustlers who dwell in the basement of the leagues standings with only 2 wins to their 7 losses. A bright light in that slow start to the summer is Joe Devine’s 1.38 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 13 innings. At Kentucky, Devine didn’t get much playing time because he was a late transfer, but his 2.1 innings of work was a success with 1 strikeout, no hits, no walks, and no runs. For Devine, this summer is a rebuilding ground for what awaits him next year as a junior at Kentucky. Currently the league standings have the Stark County Terriers in first place with a 6-2 record.